In recent years, dispensing devices for a wide range of pasty and viscous substances such as food products, e.g., cheese, etc., creams and for other materials have come into wide use. Especially popular are hand-held pumps which provide attractive, easy-to-use containers for use by consumers both at home and while travelling.
In particular, hand-held pumps for dentrifice materials such as toothpaste and gels (hereinafter referred to for convenience collectively as "pastes") have gained considerable consumer acceptance. They have become an alternative to tubes, but tubes are currently substantially less expensive than paste pumps now on the market.
Since pumps have properties many consumers prefer over tubes, it is believed that if a pump could be designed for manufacture at a cost equal to or less than tubes, sales of such a pump would increase substantially.
Pumps adapted for dispensing paste are generally found in Int. Classes G01F 11/00,B67D 5/32 in Class 222 in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Representative thereof are the following U.S. Patents issued in recent years: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,511,068; 4,598,843; 4,437,591; and 4,657,161.
It will be noted that the pumps disclosed in the foregoing Patents are relatively complicated, i.e., they have a relatively large number of components. As a consequence, since cost generally is a function of complexity and number of parts, these pumps are more expensive than desirable.
Moreover, it will be noted that all paste pumps currently on the market in the U.S. utilize an actuator mechanism which requires the application of pressure thereon by the user. These actuator mechanisms themselves are typically quite complicated. Certain pumps now on the market are connected to a rod which, in turn, is connected to a piston, i.e., movement of the actuator by hand pressure moves the rod which draws the piston against the paste to force the paste from the spout of the pump.
In addition, such current pumps are of the "draw up" type, i.e., the product to be dispensed is loaded above the piston and the piston, via the aforesaid means, is pulled up against the product to force it out of the pump nozzle.
Although such pumps generally function well, as indicated, because they are relatively complicated, they are relatively expensive.
Thus, an important object of this invention is to provide a new pump which is less complicated and therefore less expensive than those currently in use.
Another object of this invention is to provide a pump for paste products wherein the piston is located above the product to be dispensed and wherein there is provided a source of constant downward pressure on such piston so that the product is forced up a tube passing through the piston whereby, when the nozzle or spout is in registry with the tube, the product flows out continously until the nozzle is closed.
Another important object is to provide, in connection with the above combination, a rotatable turret type spout or nozzle which has an opening therein, and wherein the opening can be moved in and out of registry with the tube.
Another important object of the invention is to provide a pump which is refillable, i.e., to provide a "basic" pump which is designed to receive a refill container of paste and thereafter pump the contents of the container therefrom, whereby the consumer, having purchased one basic pump, is saved the cost of purchasing successive new pumps and is required only to purchase a refill container of paste, much as in the case of the system used in the home razor blade market, wherein once the consumer buys the razor holder, he or she need thereafter only purchase the refill blades.
Another key objective of this invention is to provide a "bottom heavy" pump which, in contrast to current paste pumps, maintains the material to be dispensed at the bottom of the container, thereby maintaining a low center of gravity so that the pump does not tip over. Current pumps draw the material to be dispensed upwardly, so that the center of gravity increasingly rises to the top of the pump, whereby the pump becomes top-heavy and tips over easily.
A further objective of this invention is to provide a refill container for hand-held dispensing devices, especially devices of the type of the present invention relating to pumps for pastes.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, drawings and claims.